Why has homelessness become a crime in many US cities?

The United States’ problem with homelessness is one of the worst among developed nations.

Recently, many US cities officially instituted laws that ban the practice of sharing food with homeless people, Press TV reported.

Some cities have gone as far as to fine, remove or threaten to throw in jail private groups that work to serve food to the needy instead of letting government-run services do the job.

The city officials claim that the bans are instituted to prevent government-run anti-homelessness programs from being diluted. But in practice, many of the same places that are banning food-sharing are the same ones that have criminalized homelessness with harsh and punitive measures.

However, many pundits believe the bans are essentially designed to make being homeless within city limits so unpleasant that the downtrodden have no choice but to leave the city.

The UN singled the United States out in a report on human rights, saying criminalization of homelessness in the United States “raises concerns of discrimination and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.”